1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to infusion systems for administering fluids intravenously or enterally and more particularly to infusions systems capable of monitoring intravenous or enteral fluid delivery for safety of the patient.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Infusion systems generally are comprised of a mechanical pump and an arrangement of flexible tubing that is adapted for delivering fluid enterally or intravenously, for example a nutritional or medicinal product. For this purpose, the flexible tubing is mountable on the pump and connected between a fluid source and the patient. In operation, the pump is specifically regulated in order to deliver the fluid through the flexible tubing and to the patient. Ordinarily, the particular arrangement of flexible tubing utilized is manufactured either for being reusable or otherwise made disposable after a single use.
One well known example of mechanical pump which is commonly utilized for infusion systems are peristaltic pumps. Peristaltic pumps are typically used with disposable tube arrangements, generally referred to as fluid delivery sets or cartridges. Fluid delivery sets essentially consist of a storage container for holding the fluid product, a drip chamber connected to the storage container by a fluid tube, and a set adapter which is connected to the drip chamber by an inlet tube on one end and to the patient via an outlet tube on its second end. Peristaltic pumps are typically comprised of two members, a housing and a door. The housing essentially holds a motor driven rotor and is also adapted to mount the fluid delivery set on assembly. For this purpose, the housing is usually provided with a series of apertures arranged within its outer surface onto which the fluid delivery set is mounted. In particular, the drip chamber and set adaptor are each usually mountable within the housing apertures for retaking the fluid delivery set. The door is connected to the housing and is adapted to secure and conceal the fluid delivery set in its mounted position when closed against the housing. The rotor which is also mounted on the outer surface of the housing is included with a series of rollers through which a portion of the fluid tubing of the fluid delivery set is positioned. As the rotor is driven by the motor, the rollers are adapted to compress the portion of flexible tubing extending therethrough which operates to pass the fluid within the tube. In this manner, the rate of rotation of the rotor is regulated in order to adjust the rate of fluid delivery to the patient.
One problem however which has been observed with prior arc infusion devices is the inability to insure safe fluid delivery to the patient. In particular, with numerous infusion systems it is possible for the fluid delivery set to be improperly mounted on the pump or otherwise become dislodged from its mounted position on the pump housing during fluid delivery. In situations where this would occur, the fluid delivery could either terminate or result with an uncontrolled "free" flow of fluid to the patient, thus creating a potentially hazardous situation. Furthermore, with these and other such infusion systems there is no manner provided in order to regulate the specific type of fluid delivery set being utilized. For example, the operating parameters of a particular pump when utilized within an infusion system could be dependent on the characteristics of a specific fluid delivery set, for instance, one including a predefined size or length of fluid tubing or arrangement of individual components. Furthermore, a particular fluid product which is required by a patient may only be obtainable through use of a specific fluid delivery set. In this situation, unintentional use of a different fluid set containing another type of fluid could potentially be critical to the patient.
Because of these and other problems associated with infusion systems presently employed, there now exists a need for an improved infusion system capable of safely delivering fluid enterally or intravenously to a patient.